Today’s Scrip-Bit   3 July 2023 Psalm 133:1.

03 Jul 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 133:1.       Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Yes, my fellow Canadians, it’s Monday, and the Canada Day celebrations continue apace, as we acknowledge the many blessings we have to be thankful for, especially since the afternoon sun has now replaced the early morning rain. That means many of us in this God-blessed country won’t be working today, but getting paid for it. So please, let’s not overdo the celebrating, and instead apply a modicum of circumspection, a sense of responsibility to the situation. (smile) 

Remember, it’s not all wine and roses, for although our country is comparatively a paradise to many others, we do have many serious problems that we need to pay serious attention to, if we don’t want them to blow up in our faces and cause a sad downgrade in this beautiful country of Canada. And today we’re going to have a look at Psalm 133, some very precious and wise words of Bruh David that currently have exceptional relevance to both our country, our world and our faith. 

So please read with me. ‘Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment (oil) upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts (edge) of his garments. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for ever more.’ (Pl.133:1-3) 

Now that my fellow believers says it all! People living together in harmony are blessed, just like when they are anointed with oil, as Aaron when anointed high priest by Moses. (Ex. 32:22-33) Living in unity is also described by Bruh David as the precious dew that descended upon Mt. Zion where the Lord commanded his blessings for life ever after.  Unfortunately though, instead of moving, or working towards unity, our world and our Christian faith are moving away from it, making resentment, anger and petty differences split us apart. 

Now that’s no way to live! What kind of life can we have if we’re always in disagreement and have unnecessary drama in our lives? We certainly can’t live the abundant live that Christ died for us to have! And sadly, in my many years on God’s great earth I’ve never seen it so divided; nation against nation, as well as serious discontent within numerous nations that’s causing civil wars all around the globe. Not to mention the terrible disunity and disagreement to be found in the lowest but most important level of society, the family. Then there’s the dividing asunder that’s happening within Christ’s church over selfish and petty differences. 

Whatever happened to Jesus’ commandment eh? ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another: as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another. By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:34-35) Apparently that has all been thrown through the window, but yet we expect the church to survive and prosper. That’s impossible, for when the Pharisees heard that Jesus was casting out demons, and claimed that He was casting them out through Satan’s power., (Matt. 12:24) Jesus begged to differ. 

And in His awesome wisdom pointed out to them. ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation: and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself: how shall then his kingdom stand?’ (Matt. 12:25-26) It obviously cannot stand! And that’s why the church is falling apart, suffering so much doubt and division, that the subsequent disenchantment is bringing worldwide apostasy, turning many away from the faith. Consequently, we believers are not living the unified life Christ expects of us, nor doing the work He so badly desires of us. 

The author of Hebrews also gave us these simple but amazing words of wisdom pertaining to unity. ‘Let brotherly LOVE continue.’ (Heb. 13:1) Short, sweet, and to the point my people! And we have one of the best examples of that right at the beginning of our faith, where Abram (later Abraham) and his nephew Lot’s herdsmen were having difficulties living together; ‘And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren.’ (Gen. 13:8) 

Wow! What simple common sense, for strife offers nothing positive, only negative consequences! But how often do we find that kind of wisdom and common sense being exhibited nowadays eh? Not very often, for in our current society, every problem, no matter how simple and easily resolved, has to become contentious or we’re not happy. 

And I like the scholars’ simple but beautiful explanation of the Psalm 133. They say: ‘This psalm is all about the preciousness of family unity. Its blessedness is exclaimed (vs.1) and explained (vs. 2-3). It sanctifies (vs. 2) and solidifies (vs.3)’ What more can we say eh? Not a whole lot, except to reassert the great importance in unity, in godly harmony, whether it be in the lowly family, or betwixt the biggest and most powerful nations. Only in unity and harmony can mankind truly thrive and prosper, and that’s a lesson we’ve got to desperately learn within Christ’s church, and learn it asap, if we ever hope to turn our evil and ungodly world around. 

Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, with sincere and heartfelt pleas for mercy and grace to guide us in these trying times. As one voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. 

Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And if we truly desire to see divine help, then we will truly turn from our evil ways and aspire to live in harmony with each other. Much LOVE!

…how can two walk together…unless they are agreed… (Amos 3:3) 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 June 2018 John 14:6.

30 Jun 2018 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

John 14:6.   Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.

And the Canada Day celebrations continue apace! And the weather seems to be in full cooperating mood too; it’s supposed to be a scorcher, possibly worse than yesterday. So get on your sunscreen and turn on the A/C, and celebrate the birth of this wonderful country called Canada, within the limits of Granny’s warnings though! (smile) 

Oh we have our problems too, but of all the big countries in the world, I still believe that Canada is the BEST! Go Canada! 

And so having ‘big-upped’ Canada; I hate the word, ‘big-up’ but I couldn’t think of anything more suitable at the time, let’s move on to our Saturday treat of this weeks quotes from our friend Anselm, who sincerely aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. 

And this week there’s a whole slate of them, starting with: ‘Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.’ And there’s absolutely no doubt about the truth and wisdom in that statement, for optimism is a foundation stone of our Christian faith. 

That leads to the next quote: ‘Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.’ That also has many grains of truth in it, for if we begin our day with positive thoughts, we will indeed be starting out on the right foot.  

Then there is: ‘Good luck is when opportunity meets preparation, while bad luck is when lack of preparation meets reality.’ It’s basically true, but we believers just don’t dabble in bad luck and good luck, but more the blessed favour, grace and mercy of our awesome God. 

But we must do our part in the partnership and be prepared for them. If we aren’t prepared, when those opportunities appear or arise, then we’ll simply lose out on a chance, no, an opportunity to be blessed by Almighty God. 

Listen to this one: ‘Don’t Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.’ 

Now I don’t know if I agree with that totally, because there are times when people do things because of us, and we ought to take them personally. The problem is to know when and what things to take issue with. A lot of the time what others do and say is indeed because of their own problems or inadequacy and we have to be wise and somewhat tough skinned to recognize those times and not allow them to bother us. 

It’s all a balancing act my people, and we do need God’s help to set the balance right. And the last quote says: ‘The more you are positive and say, ‘I want to have a good life,’ the more you build that reality for yourself by creating the life that you want.’ 

Ah friends, that statement is only true in the context of Christianity! If you say you want to build a good life under Christ, then fine. But if you want to build what the world and the prince of darkness call a good life, then you’re definitely on the wrong track. Remember the immortal words of Jesus: ‘Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.’ 

Yes friends, Jesus was very emphatic in that pronouncement, so if your life is not modelled on His, then you’re indeed going the wrong way, building your life, earthly as well as eternal, on the wrong foundation. 

And Jesus makes His point earlier when He declares that He is the Good shepherd: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep… 

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for (except) to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.’ (John 10:1-2, 9-11) 

And that is exactly what Jesus did friends: give His life for us, the sheep of His pasture. So why would we look for some other foundation on which to build our lives eh? Building our lives upon Jesus is like building them on a rock; a rock which stands the test of time and the elements of nature. Building our lives on anything else is like building them on sand, which cannot repel or withstand anything. Check out Jesus’ analogy re the two foundations, in Matthew .7:24-27. 

And we’ll close with some more immortal words of Jesus on the subject, as He spoke to Martha when He arrived late on purpose for Lazarus’ burial. ‘Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead (may die) yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?’ (Matt.11:25-26) 

And as the scholars say: ‘11:25: I am the resurrection is one of Jesus’ greatest “I am” statements, signifying His power to give eternal life.’ 

And oh my people, if Jesus has that awesome power, why wouldn’t I believe in Him eh, and shout out a bold and confident ‘YES’ to the question He asked Martha at the end of the last passage above: ‘Believest thou this?’ 

Oh friends, believing in Jesus is not only the epitome of wisdom, it is wisdom itself! Much LOVE!

…the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…but fools despise wisdom and instruction… (Prov.1:7)

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 July 2015 Psalm 19:14

02 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 19:14.   Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength (my rock), and my redeemer.

Well Friends the Canada Day celebrations are over now. Time to get back to the common task and daily grind. And it’s a glorious Thursday morning to do so; though it’s still a tad cool, both the sun and the Son are shining brightly across God’s wonderful universe!

As you can no doubt surmise from the lateness of the Bit, my celebrations lasted way into the early hours of the morning. (smile) Well it wasn’t really celebrations, just me doing my usual night time thing, I just happened to begin a tad later than normal.

Anyway, today I have for us a rather interesting and important poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. This one’s simply titled ‘LISTENING LOVE.’

‘Listening LOVE is one of the greatest gifts we can give our mates, our families, and our friends. Too often we settle for surface talk or icy silences, for monologues or cutoffs, for defenses. What a difference when we follow the principles of listening LOVE!

Listening LOVE is courteous. It says…  I will strive not to interrupt or outguess you. I will not finish your sentences or break into your thoughts.

Listening LOVE is attentive. It says… I will give you my undivided attention. I will not turn you off or leave you isolated. Listening LOVE is patient. It says… I will not rush you or insist on a right now conclusion. Listening LOVE is kind. It says… I will not shame you with sarcastic retorts. I will not belittle you.

Listening LOVE is objective. It says… I will try to be informative rather than opinionated. I will not attempt to think for you.

Listening LOVE is unselfish. It says… I will guard against over confidence and trite “spiritual” answers.

Listening LOVE is powerful. It says… I will pray for insight, for wisdom, and for gentle reactions.’

Yes Friends, those are the things that ought to go into all our conversations, how they ought all to be conducted! Not in the negative manner that so many of them are in these tremulous times.

It basically describes the attributes of LOVE, as found in the LOVE Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, where LOVE is described as being, kind, charitable, not envious, long suffering, not boastful or arrogant, doesn’t behave rudely, selfishly or keeps records of evil. (1 Cor.13:4-8)

Well all these things ought to also govern our conversations my people, for it’s mostly with words that we communicate with each other. Thus the scripture promise for that poem, which is also our Bit, is the popular ending of Bruh David’s Psalm 19 – The creation and covenants of God.

‘Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength (my rock), and my redeemer.’

Yeh mih breddren, all of us know that scripture verse, but do we really practice it? No! Certainly not as much as we ought to, especially in this rather talkative society, where we talk a lot, but say very little, and are too taken up with the concerns of others through the social media, than with our own miserable and mish-mash lives.

Ah Friends, when are we going to learn that generally speaking, the less we say, the better off we will be eh, especially in terms of gossip and stuff we don’t really know the truth about. Unfortunately though, in this age of virtual reality, everyone has an opinion on everything and also chooses to voice it.

But we ought not to utter any words at all, until we have considered their worthiness in honouring Almighty God. That’s why so many of us get ourselves in so much trouble; we just shoot loosely from our lips without giving any real thought to the possible reactions and consequences of our words.

And sometimes too, it’s not so much the words that we use, but the tone of voice, the manner in which we utter them which causes negative reactions. I am sure if we all thought a tad more before we spoke, then there’d be a whole lot less arguments, contentious conversations and negative reactions. End of sermon. (smile)

Now let’s look at a couple of scriptures that support our concerns. This first one comes from Psalm 51; Bruh David’s prayer for cleansing after his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan called him out on it. He sorrowfully cries out: ‘O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.’ (Ps.51:15)

Yes Friends, we would be so much better off if we’d ask the Lord to guide us in every word that we utter. Then there’d be far less confusion and misunderstanding in our lives, and consequently our world.

And the psalmist in Psalm 71 – a prayer for help in old age – puts it like this. ‘I will also praise thee with the psaltery (lute or lyre), even thy truth (faithfulness), O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul which thou hast redeemed.

My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.’ (Ps.71:22-24)

Oh mih people, would that we’d take that sound advice and let our tongues speak righteousness all day long!

And James says it this way. ‘Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not (does not produce) the righteousness of God.’ (James 1:19-20)

Oh my beloved brethren, never were truer words spoken! Especially when we put it into context with these all-important words of Jesus, when He spoke about good and corrupt fruit.

‘But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ (Matt.12:36-37)

It couldn’t be put any clearer and simpler than that Friends! So please, let’s ponder all the important stuff that we’ve read this morning and take all the wonderful advice we’ve been given to heart and try our best, with God’s help of course, to become good listeners and slow talkers, so that we don’t have too much negative speech to answer for, come the judgement day. That is the zenith of wisdom! Much LOVE!

…one must always think before one talks…because oftimes the old adage… that silence is golden… is ever so true…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 July 2012 1 Peter 4:7

01 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

1 Peter 4:7.    But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
 
Oh Friends, it’s July first; Canada Day! Wow! And the party’s really hopping now! From the stormy Atlantic in the East, to the mighty Pacific in the west, from the Great Lakes, so aptly named, in the South, to the challenging Arctic in the North, the beautiful people of this beautiful and bountiful land are celebrating the awesome goodness of Jehovah God to the undeserving children of men! Oh Friends, that certainly deserves another ‘Wow!’ (smile) And though many may not realize that it’s God’s goodness, His blessings and mercies that they’re celebrating, anything that produces some peace and happiness amongst brethren is better than that which produces anger, hate and strife. Praise the Lord my people! Praise Him for His never-ending, unconditional LOVE to His greatest creation, Man! And now, having waxed poetic and enthusiastic in celebration, (smile)  it’s time to get down to the serious business, that of truly serving, reverencing and worshipping Almighty God, and preparing our lives for eternity, whenever it comes, as our Bit so wisely suggests: ‘But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.’ Oh Friends, being prepared for when Jesus comes, is possibly the most important step a human can take right now, especially if He should come real soon, like today or tomorrow. If we aren’t ready when He returns, then it’s cleaners for us – eternal separation from the Creator of the universe. And believe me Friends, that’s the worse fate than can ever befall a soul, because it means an eternity of the same hellish atmosphere we currently have here on earth, and none of the joys that Jesus promises in His final kingdom. In His eternal domain, there’ll be no sorrow, pain, tears, sickness, heartaches and unhappiness, just joyful living in His Light, worshipping, praising, serving, reverencing and glorifying Almighty God! Mama Mia! Now Friends, I don’t know about you all, but given a choice between those two situations above, I’m definitely choosing, rather have chosen the latter one with Jesus as leader! That’s a no-brainer, the supreme wisdom of the age! And that’s why I’m preparing as best as I can for that magical day when Jesus establishes His eternal kingdom. I would strongly advise you all to do the same, for remember He can come at any time, in the day, or like a thief in the night, but once He arrives, there’s no turning back, no changing your mind. So I’m pleading with us all RIGHT NOW to get serious about where you want to spend eternity and make the necessary preparations. Otherwise, crapaud smoke yuh pipe! And that’s no joke Friends, for if Jesus comes and you’re not prepared, you’ll find yourself in a rather horrible situation, from which there’s no getting out. And now I’ve got to chuckle because what I wrote yesterday wasn’t what I had planned to write, but the Lord, in His eternal wisdom subtly guided me to those immortal words of His wonderful Son, Jesus, and then I realized that was the proper way to begin, given our Bit. Now this is more like what I’d planned to write. And we’ll start by looking at some relevant scripture from James: ‘Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman (farmer) waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; (es)stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh (has come near). Grudge (grumble) not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.’ (James 5:7-9) Yes Friends, we have to wait patiently, like the farmer, but first, we have to do our action part; preparing, planting seed in fertile ground, like the farmer. If he had not first planted seed, he could wait until the cows come home (smile) and no fruit would ever appear. Likewise my brethren, we have to get our earthly house in order for whenever Jesus returns, be it right now, or many moons hence. Meanwhile, John declares these oh so truthful sentiments: ‘LOVE not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man LOVE the world, the LOVE of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (physical desires), and the lust of the eyes (personal desires), and the pride of life (self-interests), is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. Little children, it is the last time (hour): and as ye have heard that the antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time (hour).’  (1 John 2:15-18) Oh my people, right now our LOVE for this evil, ungodly world is far too great, and that means we’re more interested in Lucifer’s lies, than Jesus truthful promises. But please note that the things of the world will pass away, but those of Jesus will not as He so clearly states: ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.’ (Matt.24:35) Also from the great number of false preachers and teachers now circulating in our confused and troubled world, it’s just one more indication that the end time is drawing nigh. Remember Jesus gave that as one of His signs in Matt.24:4-5. Now let’s close with appropriate words from Bruh Paul to the Romans. ‘LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law. and that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we (first) believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly (properly), as in the day; not in rioting (revelry) and drunkenness, not in chambering (licentiousness) and wantonness (lewdness), not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.’ (Rom.13:11-14) Yes my people, it’s certainly time for us to wake up to the reality of Christ and what He expects of His believers, for every day the time of His return draws nearer, and instead of bowing to the lusts of our sinful flesh, we should instead be finding ways to do and show works and faith that honour the new life that we all have in Christ. It’s a wonderful Saviour we have my Friends, so let’s show it to a disbelieving world nuh, and for their immense benefit, get them to LOVE Him as much as we do! Much LOVE…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…then respond wisely to what he hears…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 June 2012 1 Peter 4:7

30 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , ,

1 Peter 4:7.    But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
 
Oh Friends, the party is just getting into full swing, for this is the weekend we celebrate Canada Day; July 1, our Independence rejoicing! And what a party it’s going to be – from Friday evening right through to Monday night; from the East Coast to the Prairies, across the Rockies to the West Coast! Yes people, from sea to shining sea, we’ll be singing O Canada, privileged to be living in the best big country in the world! Mama Mia! But as always my people, please remember Mama’s warning: ‘Drunk or sober, mind yuh business!’ Unfortunately though Friends, like the rest of the world, we’re slowly sinking, slowly drowning in the dark and dangerous mire of evil and ungodliness that’s sadly overtaking Mother Earth. What a shame that God’s greatest creation, mankind, can so turn against Him and follow the foolish, deceitful, wicked Lucifer to destroy all the wonderful things the Creator has made. However my brethren, for those of us who still believe and try to live godly and righteous lives, the Good Book has this warning in our Bit: ‘But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.’ And that’s the indelible truth my people! Listen to this scripture: ‘And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world (age)?’ (Matt.24:3) Now listen to Jesus’ answer: ‘Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers (various) places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted (tribulation), and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity (lawlessness) shall abound, the LOVE of many shall wax (grow) cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.’ (Matt.24:4-14) Oh Friends, that is the definitive word from the One who should know! And sadly, we’re now seeing a lot of what He predicted coming true: the wars and rumours of wars and the many natural disasters, In other words, ‘the beginning of sorrows.’ But unfortunately, we’re also seeing the widespread persecution of Christians, the offence so easily taken by so many, too many of us have too thin skins, numerous, abnormal and abominable betrayals, plenty hatred, plenty false prophets arising and betraying many innocent sheep, evil and lawlessness are in such abundance that most of the world is living in fear and LOVE is being relegated to the trash heap, along with God, and hearts have become so cold and unfeeling that they seem to be made of stone. And finally, the gospel is being preached much further and wider than it’s ever been preached before, thanks to the communication revolution. What does all of that tell us my brethren? That all the conditions for the end have been set in place like never before. It might yet be a while, who knows? But the wise man won’t take any chances, he’ll get ready right now, if he isn’t already prepared. Oh my people, it certainly won’t hurt if we stay sober and diligent, watching closely what’s happening around us, while staying fervent and faithful in prayer. Now let’s end with some more definitive words of Jesus: ‘Now learn a parable of (from) the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it (he) is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman (master) of the house had known in what watch (hour) the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered (allowed) his house to be broken up (into). Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.’ (Matt.24:32-44) Ah mih Friends, those are words of Jesus, so they must be true! Can our generation be the one where all those signs are fulfilled? It’s certainly possible. Now only the Father knows when the end time will be, but we’ve been given a clue, a comparison to Noah’s time, where the people are pleasure oriented and self gratifying, going about their daily lives without any heed to the warning of approaching judgement, and thus are totally unprepared for it. Oh my people, let’s wake up and smell the roses nuh! The Son’s return will be swift and sudden; the lost won’t know what happened to saved, as they just disappear into thin air. Please let’s get prepared nuh! That is eternal wisdom! Much LOVE!…prevention is better than cure…but alas…at the end…there’ll be no time for cure…so let’s wisely make hay while the sun still shines…